Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
There have been a few times in the past where the Mystics have come into a game in the same situation as the Chicago Sky did tonight… short on talent to stay in a game late. While the injury riddled Sky team was able to hang with a Sonia Citron less Mystics team early, they could not find what it took to prevent them from pulling away late in a 90-72 victory.
Washington continues to feed their opposing teams a healthy dose of Shakira Austin on offense and most of her damage came early in this game as she was able to have her way offensively and finished with 17 points. Austin grabbed 8 rebounds tonight helping the Mystics to a 46-29 advantage on the boards.
While the Sky countered Austin on the inside with Kamila Carodozo with 12 points and 13 rebounds it was the inside size for the Mystics that prevailed. The Sky relied heavily on feeding the ball in the paint to Cardozo in the first half, until Mystics Coach Sydney Johnson seemed to counter with a bit more size in the second half that forced the Sky into quite a few errant shots going into the fourth quarter.
Kiki Iriafen continues to show why the Mystics drafted her last season as she notched her fourth double-double of the season and 20th of her career and tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Washington was without Citron tonight, who sat out with a sprained left foot. It is questionable whether she will play on Saturday night in Atlanta. Without her in the line-up the Mystics seemed to sputter a little bit in the first quarter and her ability to have the defense to collapse on her has opened up for quite a few easy Mystics buckets in previous games that may have made this much more of a blowout than it was tonight.
The Mystics improved to 3-3 on the season and with two tough games coming up in Atlanta and against the struggling Indiana Fever, the Mystics could come out on the other side next week with a winning record if they continue with the hot combo or Iriafen and Austin, they will be tough to beat as a young squad late in games just like today.
